Means for sinking wells



Nov. 30 1926.

u D. L. HARMON MEANS FOR sINxING WELLS Il lllllllllllnlll UnUnuUn-"inua .UUHHUUUUHBH Munn@ Hannan-Hun.

Patented Nov. 30, 1926.

UNITED STATES DAN L. HARMON, 0F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

MEANS ron sINxINe WELLS.

application ledeptember 11, 1924. Seriall No. 737,047.

l'his invention relates to the sinking of wells wherein an outer casing is put down to a water bearing sand and thereupon Aan inner casing of such smaller diameter as to leave a considerable annular space between the two casings is lowered within the first casing down to the said sand; and wherein the inner casing terminates at its lower end with a shoe expanding downwardly and outwardly to a thin 'annular cutting edge at its bottom, of a diameter slightly less than that of the bore of the outer casing. The space above the shoe around the inner casing has heretofore been filled with coarse gravel or crushed stone as the work provresses that bears upon the downwardly and outwardly oblique outer yface of the shoe to aid by its weight in forcing the shoe into the sand and more particularly to keep the unsupported walls of' the well iin the sandfrom caving and to keep the sand from being drawn into the inner casing through the bottom and through the walls of the casing, the walls of the lower sections of which are perforated to allow the water to 'pass The sand enclosed by the cutting edge ofthe shoe is' loosened and removed by the suction of a pump exerting its action through the inner casmg. l y y The shoes as heretofore proposed and used, have outwardlyl and downwardly sloping outside faces, parallel with the inner ones,

and are relatively thin at their cutting edges.

Consequently the cylinder of gravel supported on the sloping top of a shoe slides downwardly and outwardly by its own weight, off of the shoe, and under the cutting edge of the latter to retard penetrative action of the shoe, and when one side of the shoe edge strikes a boulder in the sand strata as frequently happens the remainder of its cutting edge is quickly undermined by the pump suction drawing in the sand, and the sand is replaced .by the gravel which forms a pack under the shoe difficult to pass and toremove. In addition, the shoe is forced to one side of the boulder and the concentric relation of the two casings is lost.

The object of my invention is first, to maintain the bottom of the cylinder column oi' gravel so far above and away from the cutting edge of the shoe that it cannot reach the cuttin edge or be drawn into the shoe.

A secon object is to provide a cylindrical lsurface between the cutting edge and said remote gravel support on the shoe, of sucientI vertical bearing against the sand-walls of the well to revent lateral displacement of the shoe and t iereby to keep the well casings concentric.

A third object is so to support the cylinder column of gravel that the weight of the column will be deflected inwardly or toward the inner casing instead of outwardly, as

heretofore, thereby eliminatinor the Vtendency of the gravel to slide down under the cutting edge ofJ the shoe, and to drag the said walls of the Well down with it and to present the lines of force on the shoe in such a manner as to get the maximum benefit of ythe weight of the column of gravel in sinking the well.

My further object is so to strengthen the shoe that the weight of the column of gravel will not crush and collapse it, and to improve the shoe and casing in other respects such as will hereinafter be specifically described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing- Fig. 1, is a vertical section of a well il- `lustrating my invention and showing the inner casing in elevation and the lower portion of said inner casing and a portion of the shoe in vertical section.

Fig. Q, is a cross section ofthe inner casing on the line 2-2 of`Fig. l, looking wardly, and Fig. 3, isy a modification showing the inner casing andshoe in vertical section.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views of the drawing.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, an outer casing 4 of usual tubular construction is sunk to the level 3 in the top of the strata of water-bearing sand 5, by the lusual methods, which leaves'the casing interior empty and open.

The inner casing is also of tubular con struction. Its bottom sections 8 have wall perforations 7, as shown, for the free admission of water to the interior of the casing. The inner casing sections VShave unperforated walls. The sections 6 and 8 are joined together by external bands 9, here v shown as riveted, but theymay be threaded and screwed to ether at the joints.' The sections are assem led a section at a time as the depth of the Well increases. l

Attachedto the lower end of the lowestA down- ,85

section' 8, of the casing, is a shoe'lO, preferably of cast metal, havin@ .a cylindricalI inner wall 11 of the same diameterA as the inner wall of section-8, but off-set at its upper portiontoform a shoulder and seat for the lower end of the inner casing and to let the innerwall of section 8 in flush with the inner cylindrical wall 11 of the shoe.

lowered to the water-bearing sand strata 5. The outer wall 14, of the shoe, is cylindrical or as nearly cylindrical as it can'be to avoid clogging 1n the sinking of the shoe and inner casing into the sand strata 5. The outer wall 14 preferably terminates opposite the lower end of the bottom section 8, but thismay vary considerably either way. without departing from the spirit of my inveu tion. v v The top of the shoe, outside of the seat for casing 8, is formed with an annular depression 15, preferably V- bape in crosb-section which is the seat and base-support for a column of coarse granular material 16, of gravel or crushed stone filling the space between the inner and outer casiiigs as far as the outer one extends and of the 'unsupported walls of the well below that. vThe material 16, is introduced at vthe top as soon las the inner casing and shoe are placed in the well and its space is kept full thereafter.

This coarse granular material 16 keeps the fine sand of the water bearing strata from caving in and from being drawn into the inner casing with the water by pump suction. A It also provides much of the weight or driving force required to sink the shoe and inner casing in the water bearing sand the desired distance. The oblique outer wall 17, of the depression 15,"in the top of the shoe, throws the weight of thecolumn inwardly against the shoe in such manner as to secure the maximum benefit of its weight 1n sinking the well and obviates the tendency to break down the sand walls of the well and s crowd under the cutting edge of the shoe, as in those shoe forms wherein the outer wall of the shoe is, substantially parallel with its described shoe construction,

. moreover,`presents a high, substantially cylindrical, wall to contact with the l undisturbed newly made wall of the well, and thereby prevents the lateral displacement of the foot and'inner casing.` It further, provides a solid mass of metal in the shoe midway of its height which strengthens the shoe uugagainst collapse from the weight on it and from the force' applied to sink` it, and its attached inner casing.

. iamaeav In the modification shown in Fig. 3 the shoe is'formed out of sheet metal, .bent to the same outer and inner faces and riveted together. The oblique member 17 forms the outer side of the V-shape channel and a reenforcement to.strengthen the shoe'.

The end of casing section 8 rests upon theedge of'the inner plate of the shoe and the two areI retained by n outer band 92 having a lower outwardly' ared portion,

While I have here shown and described the best embodiment of my invention now known to me, it is capable' of modifications, some of which I have herein specifically referred to, and others are possible-without departing from the spirit of my invention. I therefore desire to include all variations which come within the. scope of the appended claims. Il claim 1. In an appliance for sinking wells, the

combination of a sheet-metal casing with a shoe secured to said casing and flaring outwardly and downwardly internally therefrom and terminating in a lower relativelysharp earth cutting edge, said shoel having a substantially cylindrical outer side above 'said earth-cutting edge and merging with a top portion connecting it with said flaring first side,` said top portion having a channel extending around the casing, the walls of more or less of the casing next to the shoe c being" perforated and an outer 'casing of sufliciently greater inside diameter than the outside diameter of the shoe through which the shoe and its attached casing are inserted.

2. 4In an appliance for sinking wells, the combination with a sheet metall casing having perforated walls for a suitable distance beginning at one end` of a one piece shoe secured tothe perforated end of said casing saidshoe flaring outwardly' and downwardly internally from the end of the casing and terminating in a lower relatively sharp earth cutting edge and having a substantially cylindrical outer side extending from the earth-l cutting edge and terminating .approximately` opposite the perforated end of the casing,= anda member connecting the inner and outer upper Iwalls of the"shoe said connecting member having a channel extending around the casing which channel is angular in cross section with an inwardly downwardly. sloping outer side, and anoutside casing in which the first casing and its attached shoe are, inserted with a sliding fit between the shoe and the outer casing( Signed at Indianapolis, county of Marion, State of Indiana, this the 4th dayol' September, 1924.. p

' DAN L; HARMON. 

